Chris Greig & The Merchants
RECOMMENDED: Chris Greig & The Merchants
The young quartet’s new single GLUE is a smash hit, guaranteed to stick in your head. Chris Greig & The Merchants have evolved from a solo project into a four-piece indie pop juggernaut enjoying a spin on BBC Radio 1 they were also our Artist if the Week in The Scotsman / Scotland On Sunday and have been championed by BBC Introducing, Jim Gellatly and Amazing Radio. They’ve also supported rising acts such as Indigo Velvet (RIP) and Vistas as we caught up with the band for a chat, what now, what next.
For more information on Chris Greig visit: https://www.facebook.com/CGMerchants/
INTERVIEW: New Found Sound had a chat with Chris. Have a read and play new single GLUE too ⬇️
New song is brilliant, my favourite yet, tell us more and introduce yourselves
We are four pals based out of Glasgow who like to get together for a few beers and to create upbeat indie pop-rock tunes. Just your standard gents trying to find their way in the world and hoping to break into the scene. Evolving from a solo project started in 2014, I now share the stage with my best pals, also known as The Merchants
We heard you got a few ££s from Help Musicians UK, how did that come about?
Believe it or not, it was Dan our drummer who spotted an ad for the Help Musicians ‘Do it Differently’ fund and he sat one night and blasted out our application. We were lucky enough to be one of only two Scottish bands to have been given the funding. We wouldn’t be able to release any of the music we are releasing this year if it wasn’t for the help of HM!
Did that enable you to get the new photos? They’re looking brilliant, very colourful.
The funding has not only helped us get photos (featuring my very bright jacket) but has also allowed us to record some new music, and put together some cool music videos for these songs. There’s a lot of big things coming your way between now and next summer thanks to what the funding has allowed us to do. This new style with the bright clothes and the bright colours was a bit of an experiment for GLUE so we are just seeing how that goes.
How have you found lockdown and the pandemic, has it been positive or all negative?
For the first few months of lockdown it was quite difficult for us to be creative. Like a lot of people, we found it difficult not being able to meet up and being stuck in our houses. However, as time has gone on, and we are now in a period of slightly relaxed lockdown measures, creativity has been flowing again. I think lockdown has been both positive and negative for us as a band, and as individuals.
We’re guessing Covid 19 has interfered with your plans this year if so in what way, have you had to push everything back to 2021?
Yes it’s looking like we won’t be able to hit the stage this year. We’re hoping to put together a few special performances before the end of the year though. It’s definitely worth keeping an eye on our social media or joining our ‘Merchants Mail’ as we’ll be giving away more information about this soon! We had some gigs that have been pushed to next year, such as a show with our pals Sara ’n’ Junbug and at the Gig in the Goil festival.
Tell us a bit about the new song, has there been a change in direction musically?
We definitely feel there has been a slight change to a more ‘pop’ sound with the music we’ve been releasing. We’re trying not to stray too far from the sound people are used to. That sound is an integral part of our personality and our brand, so don’t expect the usual powerful rock chorus’ to be going anywhere any time soon!
Career highlights? Whats next? When do you reckon we’ll be at gigs & festivals, when is your next gig / festival?
The highlights of our career definitely all seemed to happen last year. We were able to live our dreams by playing a headline show at King Tut’s in Glasgow. That’s something we had been aiming to do since we started out. That night was overwhelmingly emotional and a lot of fun. We hope to do it again some day. As well as that, thanks to Off Axis, we were able to go down south and play the woodlands stage at Kendal Calling. This was our first proper festival and was perhaps the best weekend of our lives! Currently we only have two shows booked for next year, but we are looking to play more festivals next year. We’d love to play Belladrum at some point for sure.